New York Finally Embraces Irreconcilable Differences

New York state was the last state in the United States not to offer its citizens a no fault cause of action for divorce. In August 2010, Governor David Paterson signed into law a bill which adds irreconcilable differences as a cause of action. Property division, alimony, parenting and child support will need to be resolved before one party can swear under oath that the marriage has been irretrievably broken for 6 months.

1 Comment

darrington.jack on May 24, 2011 at 10:39 AM

This is a great tool. While divorce obviously isn’t the optimal solution for any marriage, adding this bill to the law will help to make divorce less of a painful process and will helpfully make for a smoother process. Together with divorce mediation I can really see this helping out a lot of families.

Mediation Quick Facts:

Mediation can finalize a divorce in much less time than litigation -- months versus years

You lose none of your rights by mediating

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Make decisions about your future for yourself

Parties are more satisfied with terms they agree to in mediation than terms imposed by a court

Agreements obtained through mediation are far less likely to end up back in court

Mediation is a forward-looking process (where do you go from here)

Mediation can be used to resolve many types of disputes, including the dissolutions of gay and lesbian (same-sex) relationships, civil unions, domestic partnerships and commercial and community disputes